Donna Smith Designs

16/07/2025

🌻Summer Holidays🌻

I am having a break for the summer holidays and will be away until Monday 28th July; the website is undergoing maintenance during the holidays and orders will resume after I get back.

The shop in Burra will be open during this time and you will be looked after by Casey so you can still buy yarn etc in person. The opening hours are Tuesdays and Fridays 11am-3pm and Saturdays 12pm-3pm. Sorry we can’t accommodate appointments outwith these times for the next two weeks.

I will reply to emails and messages after the 28th July. Hope you’re all having a lovely summer!

13/05/2025

It’s a beautiful day here in Shetland, the door to the yarn shop is open and we will be here until 3 today selling Langsoond yarn, patterns, books and local arts and crafts.
We are also adding new colours to the website as we get them labelled at the moment rather than doing shop updates to make sure the shop is stocked up.
In other news, we are delighted that are now able to sell to the EU and Northern Ireland again 🧶🧶🧶

02/05/2025

The Langsoond Yarn shop is now open for the summer season! We will be open Tuesdays and Fridays 11am - 3pm until Shetland Wool Week at the end of September or can open by appointment if we are here. The shop is attached to the house but has its own entrance, here you will find a range of yarn from locally reared sheep including our own, in a range of undyed and naturally dyed shades (the dyeing is done on the premises). We are located in Burra, about 10 miles from Lerwick you can find directions on the “visit” tab of the website. We also stock locally made crafts, knitting patterns and knitting kits. Hope to see you soon!

16/03/2025

It was an honour to be interviewed last year for a 2 part programme exploring fashion in Scotland since the 1960s, it features many familiar faces like Lula, Alan Cu***ng, Charlene Spiteri and is hosted by the fabulous Kirsty Wark so I'm in very good company!
You can see the first part tonight at 9pm on BBC Scotland or you can watch both episodes on iPlayer now. I feature very briefly in the first episode where I mention the shop the used to be in Lerwick that sold the winkle pickers, I think a few locals will remember then, I had two pairs! You can see me with the sheep and speaking a bit about knitting in the second episode.

14/03/2025

How many cardigans is too many (asking for a friend 😉)?
I’ve been wearing my Wearing/Scarpigert cardigan a lot since I finished it (it’s perfect with dresses) so I’ve cast on another in Shetland Black. I’ve just uploaded a new video on my YouTube channel (I’ll put a link in my stories) where I speak about this project amongst others I’m working on and the new DK yarn that has recently arrived.
You can see the one I finished last year in the second photo, I cast on the number of stitches required for the Wearing Cardigan and worked the length and button bands of the Scarpigert cardigan. Both the cardigan patterns are available in my book Langsoond a Shetland Yarn or as individual patterns on Ravelry. If you put both patterns in your basket you will only be charged for one. Have a good weekend whatever you’re doing 🧶🧶🧶

13/03/2025

08/03/2025

The latest batch of undyed Langsoond yarn (100% Shetland wool) has arrived from the mill and it is now online. There are 6 undyed shades of DK and an undyed grey in Laceweight which is brand new to me, I love it. Just wondering what to make first!
You can find the undyed yarn and lots of naturally dyed colours on my website (link in profile).

20/02/2025

Thanks so much for all your orders after the shop update on Monday evening. The first lot of orders were posted yesterday and the next lot will go out tomorrow. We had a few technology issues today with the website, it’s all back online now, thanks for your patience!
There is still quite a bit of naturally dyed yarn in the online shop as this was quite a big shop update, including sone of these blue skeins I’m holding.
My scarf is the Lonabrak scarf featuring the print of the wave lace pattern, it uses 3 skeins of Langsoond DK, this one was done in colour North Sea but it would look lovely in other colours. The pattern is in my book, Langsoond, A Shetland Yarn or as an individual download on Ravelry. Hat is by .a.m.knitwear, a Shetland knitwear producer

17/02/2025

✨SHOP UPDATE ✨the latest batch of naturally dyed yarn is now online! The first slide shows the newest addition to the Langsoond range, 4Ply. The 2nd and 3rd slides show Langsoond DK in a range of colours which I really enjoyed putting together. There’s also a small amount of lace weight. I hope you see something you like!

11/02/2025

We’re busy here at the moment getting yarn twisted and labelled for the next shop update - this will be on Monday 16th February at 7pm BST. For anyone not familiar with how this works, we dye a batch then add them all to the website at one time, then the listings will go live at one time. Everything that is already on the website won’t be affected.

I will be sending out a newsletter tomorrow with details of the colours and yarns that will be in the update. If you would like to know in advance, you can sign up to the newsletter on the website.

There will be some DK weight (the picture shows DK) and some 4Ply. All Langsoond 100% wool and dyed with natural dyes as usual.

I hope you see something you like!

21/01/2025

Loving this crocheted jumper made using Langsoond DK yarn. It has been designed by you will find the pattern in issue 6 of . There are also lots of other lovely patterns and interesting articles. Basically a stunning publication all round!

The undyed colours are currently out of stock but the
The next batch of this yarn is being spun right now and it will be available within the next few weeks (fingers crossed). I will also be having a shop update with naturally dyed yarns very soon. You can sign up to the newsletter on my website to be kept up to date when the yarns are available.

📸

21/12/2024

✨HOLIDAY TIME ✨

It’s time to switch off the dye pots and take a much needed rest, hopefully spending lots of time next to the stove like this lot! There’s still a bit of admin to do but once I’ve done that we will be on holiday until January 6th. The website will still be open but any orders won’t be sent out until after 6th January.

Thanks so much for all of your support over the past year, for all the orders, visits, messages etc, it really means a lot that you are supporting a small rural business which means we can carry on doing what we love.

Wishing you all a very peaceful Christmas and best wishes for 2025 🎄